Villanova University made its mark on the stars this past weekend as a mini-satellite launched on Saturday -- which was created through a project that involved a professor and a graduate from the school.
In a first-of-it-kind study, on Saturday afternoon, researchers with Villanova University launched a mini-satellite -- as part of the launch of SpaceX Transporter 9 -- that will be used to run experiments on blockchain technology for inter-satellite transactions.
"It's still hard for me to realize that I'm actually doing this," Peter Glasser, a former engineering student at Villanova told NBC10's Matt DeLucia.
It's a first-of-its-kind study that will put the satellite in orbit for four years, and allow researchers to conduct experiments that look at using a blockchain network to share data between satellites.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
"What we're looking at is if you have a blockchain network, you can have one satellite actually transact information with another satellite and to enrich that data. So now we're talking about satellites working in concert," explained Hasshi Sudler, an Adjunct Professor of Cybersecurity at Villanova University.
Sudler said that most people are likely most familiar with blockchain, as it's used in cryptocurrency, like bitcoin. But, this program is more than that.
"It's important to us is that it is able to kind of store information quite reliably," said Glasser. "We live in a digital age where security matters a lot and blockchain allows us to secure not just currency but any information software, data."
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
The satellite took two years to construct and it's now floating hundreds of miles above the earth.
Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox.
